Amy and Timothy have been happily married for eight years, but when the recession hit, their relationship took a turn for the worse. Timothy lost his job, and they are in about $170,000 of debt. Their house, which they bought for $360,000, is now worth only $240,000. After four years in that home, they are losing it to foreclosure. "It was either feed our daughter or make house payments, and we had to make that choice, unfortunately," Timothy says.

Making the decision to skip house payments was the beginning of a downhill spiral, Timothy says. "That was when I knew my marriage was maybe going to be hanging by a thread," he says. "There's the potential to lose the marriage [and] my child."